• About
  • Cats Dig Hemingway
  • John King’s Publications
  • Literary Memes
  • Podcast Episode Guide
  • The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film
  • Videos
  • Writing Craft Discussions

The Drunken Odyssey

~ A Podcast About the Writing Life

The Drunken Odyssey

Tag Archives: The Zero Theorem

Buzzed Books #21: The Call

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Buzzed Books, Science Fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Burrow Press, Pat Rushin, Terry Gilliam, The Call, The Zero Theorem

Buzzed Books #21 by Leslie Salas

Pat Rushin’s The Call

The Call Cover_art credit Plinio Marcos PintoThe Call: A Virtual Parable, is the novella that inspired the screenplay for Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem.

The Zero TheoremBoth novella and screenplay, penned by Pat Rushin, explore existentialism and causality through the exploits of a certain entity-cruncher who refers to himself in the first-person-plural perspective.

The shared protagonist in these two stories encounters three helpers on his quest to receive a transformative phone call that will bring his life purpose: an honest yet crass phoneman, a tech-savvy dominatrix troubleshooter, and a prodigy adolescent known simply as “Bob.” Like the magical donors in fairy tales, these three helpers assist the protagonist in his quest to find meaning in his life, but not without great risk or promise of rewards. Here is where the similarities between the novella and the screenplay end.

The Call reads as a darker, more concrete telling of events similar to those that occur during The Zero Theorem, with more tangibility and realism at every step of this science fiction adventure. The world the protagonist lives in more closely mimics our own, and the brutal parallels drawn by Rushin are biting in their satire. The explorations of the ramifications of the interconnectedness created by the Internet and a culture that sells sex through the lens of a hermitic, awkward protagonist further illuminate the irony of post-post-modern society.

Written from the perspective of the protagonist, The Call provides strong insight into the role of faith and the interior conflict of finding one’s place in the universe. Rushin’s masterful juxtaposition on the protagonist’s plight and the reactions of those around him creates a wealth of humor and cynicism punctuated by one-liners and running gags. The use of extravagant language and witty dialogue throughout the novella make for an engaging and enjoyable reading experience.

Pair with: Anything you are not at all interested in, but have chosen to prepare and drink nonetheless. It should not especially please you, especially if you are presently watching your weight, as that diet dictates against all drinks with perceptible flavor. A Diet Sprite will do—in a pinch.

_______

Leslie SalasLeslie Salas (episode 75, Gutter Space) writes fiction, nonfiction, screenplays, and comics. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida and attended the University of Denver Publishing Institute. In addition to being an Associate Course Director at Full Sail University, Leslie also serves as an assistant editor for The Florida Review, a graphic nonfiction editorial assistant for Sweet: A Literary Confection, and a regular contributing artist for SmokeLong Quarterly.

Episode 117: Pat Rushin!

13 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Episode, Film, Postmodernism, Science Fiction, Screenwriting

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

And the Band Played On, Craig-Paul Moreau, Pat Rushin, Randy Shilts, Terry Giliam, The Zero Theorem

Episode 117 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I interview Pat Rushin, who authored the screenplay for the new Terry Gilliam film, The Zero Theorem, which opens in the U.S.A on September 19th,

Pat Rushin and his wife Mary on the set of The Zero Theorem.

Pat Rushin and his wife Mary on the set of The Zero Theorem.

Plus Craig-Paul Moreau writes about Randy Shilts’s And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic.

Photo by Demian Rosenblatt.

Photo by Demian Rosenblatt.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

The Zero Theorem

And the Band Played On

NOTES

Check out where The Zero Theorem will be playing in the U.S.A. here.

Watch No Ordinary Sun, adapted from a Pat Rushin story, here.

Check out “My parents helped me to lose my virginity,” the new personal essay in The Guardian by Boris Fishman (Episode 107).

_______

Episode 117 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

Online, shop here:

If you must, shop Amazon and help the show.

Audible.com

Blogs

Not forgotten

Categories

  • 21st Century Bronte
  • A Word from the King
  • Aesthetic Drift
  • animation
  • Anime
  • Art
  • Autobiography
  • AWP
  • Biography
  • Blog Post
  • Bloomsday
  • Buddhism
  • Buzzed Books
  • Cheryl Strayed
  • Children's Literature
  • Christmas
  • Christmas literature
  • Comedy
  • Comic Books
  • Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart
  • Craft of Fiction Writing
  • Creative Nonfiction
  • David Foster Wallace
  • David James Poissant
  • David Lynch
  • David Sedaris
  • Disney
  • Dispatches from the Funkstown Clarion
  • Doctor Who
  • Drinking
  • Dungeons and Dragons
  • Editing
  • Education
  • Episode
  • Erotic Literature
  • Essay
  • Fan Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Film
  • Flash Fiction
  • Florida Literature
  • Francesca Lia Block
  • Functionally Literate
  • Ghost writing
  • Graphic Novels
  • Gutter Space
  • Help me!
  • Heroes Never Rust
  • History
  • Horror
  • Hunter S. Thompson
  • In Boozo Veritas
  • Irish Literature
  • Jack Kerouac
  • James Bond
  • James Joyce
  • Jazz
  • Journalism
  • Kerouac House
  • Kung Fu
  • Like a Geek God
  • Literary Magazines
  • Literary Prizes
  • Literary rizes
  • Literature of Florida
  • Litlando
  • Live Show
  • Loading the Canon
  • Loose Lips Reading Series
  • Lost Chords & Serenades Divine
  • Magic Realism
  • Mailbag
  • manga
  • McMillan's Codex
  • Memoir
  • Miami Book Fair
  • Michael Caine
  • Military Literature
  • Mixtape
  • Music
  • New York City
  • O, Miami
  • Old Poem Revue
  • On Top of It
  • Pensive Prowler
  • Philosophy
  • Photography
  • Poetry
  • politics
  • Postmodernism
  • Publishing
  • Recommendation
  • Repeal Day
  • Science Fiction
  • Screenwriting
  • Sexuality
  • Shakespeare
  • Shakespearing
  • Sports
  • Star Wars
  • Television
  • The Bible
  • The Curator of Schlock
  • The Global Barfly's Companion
  • The Lists
  • The Pink Fire Revue
  • The Rogue's Guide to Shakespeare on Film
  • Theater
  • There Will Be Words
  • translation
  • Travel Writing
  • Vanessa Blakeslee
  • Versify
  • Video Games
  • Violence
  • Virginia Woolf
  • War
  • Word From the King
  • Young Adult
  • Your Next Beach Read
  • Zombies

Recent Posts

  • The Curator of Schlock #302: Silent Night, Deadly Night 3
  • Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart #48: Live from Miami Part 2—David Heatley
  • Episode 396: A Very Scandinavian Christmas!
  • The Curator of Schlock #301: Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2
  • Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart #47: Live from Miami, Part 1–Patrick McDonnell

Archives

  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel